Cruising Yachts

Pacific Shipping And

New Ships For South Seas

New ships on the South Pacific scene are the main news this month.

r O have been acquired by the Australia - West Pacific Line, which operate services between Aus tralia and Japan, and the Far East, Australia and P-NG and the Far East and Australia via P-NG. One of the new ships has now been delivered and the second is due in the next month or two.

The Chandris Line has bought a one class ship and at Ballina, NSW, a new 70 ft ship has been launched for the New Guinea operatives.

Two New Ships

For A-Wp Line

The Australia-West Pacific Line took delivery of a new ship, the Andros, at Madang on July 14. The Andros then sailed direct for Japan to enter the Japan-Australia service.

The Andros and her sister ship, the Lemnos, which is yet to be delivered, are both likely to call at Islands ports between Japan and Australia, but this is not expected to happen for some months, according to an Australia- West Pacific spokesman.

The Andros sailed from London to Madang under charter to the Ned lloyd (Dutch) Line, who handed her over to her owners.

Both ships, of 7,114 tons, were built at Gothenburg in Sweden, and are named after Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.

Each is 440 ft long and 60 ft wide, and has a cargo capacity of 419,450 cubic feet, including 54,350 cubic feet of refrigerated cargo space.

They can carry 625 tons of bulk liquids. They have twin hatches,

which will speed up the loading and discharge of cargo.

Their speed is 171 knots.

They are equipped to carry con tainer and pallet cargo.

To help prevent damage to cargo, the ships are fitted with flume tanks, which minimise roll in heavy seas.

Another Ship For

Pacific Cruises

The Chandris Line has bought the 22,500 ton Queen Fredrica, a one class ship, which will make several Pacific cruises.

The first cruise is scheduled to leave Sydney on December 22, and will last 23 days. The Pacific ports on the itinerary are Nukualofa, Apia, Suva and Noumea.

A 16-day cruise will leave Sydney on January 14, and a 21-day cruise on January 31.

P-Ng Federation's

New Ship Launched

A new 70 ft ship, built in Aus tralia for the Federation of Native Associations Ltd., of Papua-New Guinea, was launched at Ballina, NSW, on July 12, by Mr. E. Graham, P-NG Registrar of Co-operatives.

The new vessel Papua, is to take over the route of the Federation’s first ship, Hiri, from Abau to Beara, in the Gulf district. The Hiri will operate in Milne Bay waters.

The hull of the Papua has been designed so that she will be able

The two new sister ships for the Australia-West Pacific Line, "Lemnos" (left) and "Andros".

to go over sand bars at Kerema and Toaripi.

A crew of four Papuans was scheduled to sail the $130,000 vessel from the dockyard at Ballina, New South Wales, to Port Moresby in August.

Ice-Packed Holds

For Bsip Fishing Vessels

Solomon Islands fishing boats are now being modified to keep the catches packed in ice while at sea.

This will enable them to stay at sea longer and thus improve the hauls.

The first vessel to have the hold converted for ice sailed from Honiara recently and stayed out for six days.

It is an F-class vessel, belonging to the Gonamela Fishing Co-operative.

The bottom of the hold was con creted over and the sides lined with plastic foam as insulation for the ice. Wooden boxes to hold up to 50 lb of fish were also installed to ease handling and storing of the catch.

The hold accommodates about H tons of fish as well as a ton of ice.

In future the ice for the fishing fleet will be made by the Honiara Central Fish Marketing Association when the new ice-making plant at the fish market is put into operation.

"Esmeralda" Loses

Man Overboard

A sixteen year-old apprentice seaman Luis Chavez, of Chile, was lost overboard from the Chilean naval barque Esmeralda, near Manus island, New Guinea, on July 12.

Officers aboard the Esmeralda, which is on a training voyage from Chile to Australia and New Zealand, reported the accident when the vessel berthed in Rabaul on July 16. The ooy was seen to fall from a lifeboat luring routine daytime manoeuvres in a calm sea. Esmeralda circled, but he boy had already gone under, and lis body was not found even after i 24-hour search.

Under the command of Captain Roberto Kelly, Esmeralda is carry ng 279 personnel, including 42 officers recently graduated from the Chilean Naval Academy.

More Ng Arrests

Captain and crew of the Formosan ishing vessel Gin Shing Yiclc in uly were charged with having llegally entered the Fead Islands, -00 miles north-east of Rabaul, NG. fhe case was adjourned to Sohano, Bougainville, on a date to be fixed, ’olice Inspector Ron Curtis, of Rabaul, arrested the captain and he 11 crew members after a radio

message that the vessel was anchored off the Feads. Illegal visitors are common in that area.

"Raratalau" Dedicated

For Sda Mission

The Raratalau, the first ship ever built in Papua-New Guinea especially for export, was dedicated at Rabaul late in June by Pastor Cyril Pascoe, of the Seventh-day Adventist Mission.

The 45 ft Raratalau was built by the Toboi Shipbuilding Co., Rabaul, and will be based at Malaita, in the BSIP. She will join five other SDA ships on general mission work.

Raratalau means “Shining Light”.

"Niuvakai" Extends

Service To Apia

Apia has been added to the list of ports the Tonga ship, Niuvakai, will visit on her trading trips between the Pacific Islands and Australia.

She called at Apia for the first time on the outward run from Australia in May, and since then the decision has been made to include Apia per manently on the trader’s itinerary.

Her ports of call on voyages from Nukualofa in future will be Malau (Fiji), Melbourne, Sydney, Suva, and Apia.

She was due at Malau late in July

to pick up a cargo of timber from Melbourne.

The Niuvakai, since May, has been under charter to the GEIC Government and Burns Philp, carry ing and repatriating labour between , the Gilberts and the Line Islands plantations.

Yacht Founders On

Tuamotu Reef

The Valfreya, a 36 ft motor yacht, went aground on a coral reef in the Tuamotus, about 280 miles north east of Tahiti in May while virtually on the last leg of a journey from England to New Zealand.

The crew, comprising John Cordiner, his wife, Jan, and son Jonathan, 18, lost all their posses sions, but managed to salvage some flares, one of which they used to light a fire. They used the others to send out signals for help.

TTiey were rescued by the in habitants of a nearby island, and then had to wait 32 days for a copra boat to take them to Papeete.

The Cordiners spent seven days in Papeete waiting for money from London to buy air tickets to fly to New Zealand, where they intend to settle.

After the yacht struck the reef the Cordiners escaped over the sharp coral to an island.

Captain James Retires

From Fiji

The Fiji Harbour Master, Captain E. L. (Jimmy) James, retired at the end of July after 16 years in the colony, first as Assistant Harbour Master.

He became the Fiji Harbour Master in 1958, succeeding the late Captain E. W. Harness.

Australian-born Captain James started his seafaring career in 1936

with Burns Philp ships operating between Australia and New Guinea, the Solomons and the Far East.

With his wife he will settle in Sydney or Perth.

"Dampier" Finishes

Fiji Survey

The Royal Navy survey ship, HMS Dumpier, which has been in Fiji waters for about eight months, left Suva for Singapore on July 10 and will not return.

She finished marine surveys which had been started by her predecessor, HMS Cook.

It has been reported that two

smaller ships and a hydrographical unit will be permanently based in Suva for survey work.

Catamaran On Charter

To Fiji Government

The Fiji Government has chartered a 40 ft catamaran, Doubloon, for work in the Lau group. The Doub loon is owned and skippered by Captain John Littler, 55, a former officer of the Royal Canadian Navy.

Captain Littler said the Doubloon would carry Government officers to Lau, and help in communications in outer Lau. It would also carry out reef reconnaisance work.

The Doubloon left Auckland in

Captain E. L. James, who has retired from Fiji.

the Auckland-Suva yacht race, but had to turn back twice, once with a broken rudder, and next when the crankshaft broke.

She did the journey to Fiji in nine days, about the same time as the winning yacht, Fidelis.

Captain Littler visited Suva in 1958 when he was commanding HMCS Ontario, a 6 in gun cruiser.

He served in several British and Canadian warships in World War 11, and his last post before retirement was as Chief of Staff to the Com manding Officer, Naval Divisions, Hamilton, Ontario.

His wife, Elizabeth, and two New Zealand friends, Mr. and Mrs. Barry McFadzean, sailed in the Doubloon to Fiji.

"Moana Roa" Calls

To Be Reduced

The number of visits by the New Zealand Government motor vessel, Moana Roa, to the outer islands of the Cook Islands group is to be reduced substantially, says the an nual report of the NZ Department of Island Territories tabled in the NZ Parliament on July 13.

The decision was made, the report says, following a review in October 1965 of the vessel’s operation and subsequent discussions with the Cook Islands Government. Owing to bad weather and frequency of calls to the outer islands it was not pos sible to undertake more than 10 trips during the past year, and the annual working loss had increased from £41,369 to £61,520.

Eleven trips will now be made iach year. Not only will overhead charges be spread, but the more egular calls to Auckland and Raro onga will improve freight and pas ;enger earnings.

The Mona Roa was commissioned n November 1960 and has provided

the only regular surface connection between New Zealand and the Cook Islands.

Nz Jet Boats

On Ng's Sepik

Jet boats have penetrated well beyond the normal limits of naviga tion in one of the tributaries of the Sepik River in New Guinea. They rode easily over some of the most dangerous rapids in the territory.

The NZ manufactured jets, the first of their kind in P-NG, are used by the Bureau of Mineral Resources to take in a geological field party and equipment for a regional mapping survey in the Sepik River area and one of the southern tributaries. One jet is 22 ft long and two are 16 ft long.

The boats were delivered to Madang in May and sent by sea to Angoram. From there they carried the party and equipment to a base camp about 100 miles from Angoram on the Yuat River.

The 22 ft boat is capable of carry ing a payload of more than 3,000 lb at 30 mph. The remarkable manoeuvrability and shallow draught of the boats enabled them to pene trate more than 45 miles beyond the normal navigational limit.

In August the boats will be driven by sea to the Mambara River in the Northern District, after which they will return to the Sepik area.

Noumea's Harbour

Under Fire—Again

PlM’s Noumea correspondent, Fred Dunn, reported in July that “the annual Press onslaught” on the condition of the port of Noumea was at present under way. Each and every paper in town had attacked the present condition of the port and its wharves. Adjectives from

One of the New Zealand jet boats ap proaches the second major rapids in the Yuat Gorge during a mapping survey of the Sepik River area by the Australian Bureau of Mineral Resources in New Guinea. This one is named "Puk-Puk" (crocodile).

chaotic to catastrophic had been employed.

Dunn reported: One paper said the Oriental Queen, which was here early July with 300 New Zealand “pilgrims”, had stuck in the mud for a time while struggling to get into a narrow berth.

Another paper states that the Pilots’

Association has written a letter of protest against the condition of the port, stating that each time they berth it is the result of a herculean effort.

Noumea’s Bulletin du Commerce, seldom given to headlines or rash statements, declares that the situation is heading for catastrophe. It quotes the report of an engineer-specialist who was invited to inspect the wharf at Noumea. He was stupified to see the condition of the steel pilings and was “unable to state why the whole quay did not callapse into the sea”.

The Bulletin’s article concluded with, “We find hundreds of millions of francs for sport [the South Pacific Games being held in December].- Can’t some money be found to save the Noumean wharves on which the economy of the country depends?”